Live on WKCR: My Norman Granz Set for "Labeled"
I joined WKCR, with hosts "Suga" Steve Mandel and Jake Cohn, for a five-hour broadcast on the jazz legacy of Norman Granz.
Stream the Full Broadcast: Scroll down to stream the full five-hour WKCR broadcast, plus a complete playlist with Discogs links to the exact pressings we played.
Earlier this month, I had the chance to guest host a special five-hour episode of Labeled on WKCR, a show dedicated to exploring one jazz record label per episode. The invite came from the hosts, Jake Cohn and “Suga” Steve Mandel, who you may also know from JMI Recordings, who reached out after reading my Substack post on Dodo Marmarosa. We'd connected before through Jazz Bums, but this was the first time we were teaming up in person. We kicked around a few label ideas, but ultimately decided to do something a little different with a special episode focused on Norman Granz himself. Since he founded and produced across so many intertwined imprints, Clef, Norgran, Verve, Pablo, it made sense to treat them as a single catalog. They handed me the reins to program the music, all drawn from my own collection, just a stack of Norman Granz-produced LPs and a few hours on the New York airwaves.
For me, this wasn’t about covering every corner of Granz’s catalog. I’m not a completist. The set I brought to WKCR reflects my taste: Charlie Parker, George Wallington, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, etc. I just play what I actually spin at home. This is the Granz universe as it lives on my shelves.
Doing this at WKCR was a trip. The studio has this mix of old-school gear with reel-to-reels stacked in the corner and decades of jazz energy soaked into the walls. There’s a photo of Eric Dolphy taped up next to the broadcast booth door, and a “Bird Lives” photo on the bulletin board inside. At one point I handed Steve a Parker LP to cue up, and had this realization: that’s going out live, over New York City airwaves. Bird does, in fact, live.
Below is the full five-hour broadcast, with timestamps for each track and discussion break. I also included Discogs links for the specific pressing we played.
Labeled – Norman Granz Episode (WKCR, July 6, 2025)
0:00 — Illinois Jacquet and Ben Webster, The Kid and The Brute — “I Wrote This For The Kid” (September 20, 1954)
11:56 — Norman Granz Episode Introduction (Steve)
16:32 — Billie Holiday, Songs For Distingué Lovers — “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)” (January 8, 1957)
22:15 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
38:07 — Jazz At The Philharmonic, Vol. 2 — “Blues for Norman” (January 28, 1946)
46:41 — Tal Farlow, A Recital By Tal Farlow — “Walkin’” (May 3, 1955)
52:13 — The Art Tatum • Ben Webster Quartet — “All The Things You Are” (September 11, 1956)
59:22 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
1:11:48 — Toshiko Akiyoshi, The Many Sides Of Toshiko — “Bags' Groove” (September 28, 1957)
1:18:29 — Getz Meets Mulligan In Hi-Fi — “Too Close For Comfort” (October 12, 1957)
1:25:26 — The Great Artistry Of Django Reinhardt — “Night And Day” (March 10, 1953)
1:28:20 — Harry Edison – Sweets — “Studio Call” (September 4, 1956)
1:36:31 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
1:43:38 — The Jazz Scene, Coleman Hawkins — “Picasso” (1948)
1:47:05 — The Lionel Hampton–Art Tatum–Buddy Rich Trio — “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (August 1, 1955)
1:54:05 — George Wallington Trio — “A Night In Tunisia” (June 10, 1954)
1:57:25 — Charlie Parker with Strings — “They Can't Take That Away From Me” (July 5, 1950)
2:00:47 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
2:10:56 — Johnny Hodges, Creamy — “The Ballad Medley” (September 8, 1955)
2:23:03 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
2:29:10 — The Jimmy Giuffre Quartet, In Person — “Wee See” (July 19, 1960)
2:38:31 — Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges, Side By Side — “Stompy Jones” (February 26, 1959)
2:44:58 — Sonny Stitt, Blows The Blues — “Birth Of The Blues” (December 22, 1959)
2:50:51 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
3:01:04 — Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, Encounters Ben Webster — “Blues For Yolande” (October 16, 1957)
3:07:50 — Ella Fitzgerald, Ella Swings Lightly — “Little Jazz” (November 23, 1958)
3:10:53 — Discussion (Jake, and Mike)
3:14:19 — Lester Young Trio — “I Cover The Waterfront” and “Somebody Loves Me” (March or April 1946)
3:20:23 — Billie Holiday, Songs For Distingué Lovers — “Stars Fell on Alabama” (January 7, 1957)
3:24:52 — Discussion (Jake)
3:26:25 — Dizzy Gillespie, At Newport — “Dizzy's Blues” (July 6, 1957)
3:38:12 — The Art Tatum - Buddy De Franco Quartet — “You’re Mine You” (February 6, 1956)
3:45:03 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
3:51:03 — Pete Brown, From The Heart — “Body & Soul” (May 5, 1959)
3:57:23 — Jam Session #2 — “What Is This Thing Called Love” (June 17, 1952)
4:12:10 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
4:23:26 — Duke Ellington and Ray Brown, This One's For Blanton — “Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me” (December 5, 1972)
4:28:46 — Benny Carter, Plays Pretty — “Our Love Is Here To Stay” (December 5, 1972)
4:32:21 — Discussion (Steve, Jake, and Mike)
4:50:32 — Clark Terry • Freddie Hubbard • Dizzy Gillespie plus Oscar Peterson • Ray Brown • Joe Pass • Bobby Durham, The Alternate Blues — “Alternate Three” (March 10, 1980)
